MCU Rankings: 11 – 14

I started off with Captain America The First Avenger a bit lower but I raised it after a recent rewatch. It’s a lot more fun that I remembered.

I think it’s aged well and, if I’m being honest, I probably appreciate it more now given it’s context within the MCU. I don’t consider it the best origin story but it is packed full of side characters and stories lines that continue for over a decade. This was the first movie to feature an infinity stone. The villain was Red Skull, who finally saw reappear on in Infinity War. We meet Bucky and Howard Stark. Bucky later becomes the Winter Soldier and kills Howard Stark, which fuels the climax in Civil War.

13. Age of Ultron

I’m really torn about Ultron. There are some great fight sequences and it really moves the MCU along considerably as it introduces us to new heroes, brings another infinity stone into the fold, and sets the stage for Civil War. That being said, I remember watching this movie and thinking there were too many heroes and not enough screen time. It just felt cramped.

My biggest gripe, however, is with Ultron. This is a villain that could be awesome – think Thanos lite – and yet he comes off very vanilla. Visually he’s unimpressive, he has James Spader’s smarmy ass voice, and he’s given some dollar store villain motivation along the liens of “I want to save you…by killing you.”

As a stand alone movie I’d rank this a bit lower but, given its significance in the MCU, I had to bump it up a bit.

Bonus video:

11. Ant Man

* * tie **

11. Ant Man and the Wasp

Two really fun movies and, to be frank, I’m not sure which one I like better. I originally thought the idea of Paul Rudd as a super hero was ridiculous but he really pulls it off.

It’s interesting to note that both movies were more or less used as palette cleansers. As the MCU grows, and the stakes get bigger and bigger, both Ant Man movies were released following an Avengers movie and serve to keep things more grounded.

The result, in my opinion, has been fantastic and I’m upset I couldn’t have either of these crack the top 10. It’s not a knock on the Ant Man franchise so much as a testament to the quality of Marvel movies.